I first stumbled upon Mali Velasquez by chance, taken in by her album art. It was a painting of three figures, two adults and a child between them, coloured in the yellows, pinks, and browns of an old family photograph.…
Recently struggling to sleep, I turned to Convocations – Sufjan Stevens’ 2021 49-track instrumental album, written in the wake of his father’s death. I was taken aback by this subtly inventive two-and-a-half hour, five-part song cycle. It came only one…
Fires crackling, a warm breeze tangling through your hair, lush green lands, open plains and rolling hills. Tales of love, death, and empowerment, entwined with morals, warnings, and memories. This is what folk music gifts to us and what listeners…
The music of Jack Cooper’s current band Modern Nature bears little resemblance to the music he made as half of Ultimate Painting. There really is no standard path that leads from there to No Fixed Point In Space. The shift…
Devendra Banhart is no stranger to anyone who reads these pages. Flying Wig sees the Houston-born musician and songwriter releasing his 11th album into the wild. He is 21 years deep into a recording career and shows no slowing down…
For fans of Margo Cilker’s splendid 2021 debut Pohoryville there’s good news. The follow-up to that album, Valley of Heart’s Delight, offers eleven more songs in the same rich musical vein. Acoustic guitar, bass and drums are joined most prominently,…
Having a sense of humour in the music business helps, and Kenny Bates, who trades as Quitter, definitely has one. Which is why his album Monument Road has been credited with being recorded in, “flats, homes, cupboards, bedrooms and burnt…
Perennial means to last eternally, to return time and time again with each year, to flower, or to emerge with the seasons. It’s an apt moniker for this new release from Brooklyn psych/folk ensemble Woods, who seem almost organic themselves.…
It’s hard to mention Buck Meek without also mentioning Big Thief, his critically acclaimed folk group whose shivering melody lines and uncanny lyrical turns have earned them an almost supernatural status amongst fans and critics alike. But this album isn’t…
It’s been thirteen years since Anna Brønsted’s band Our Broken Garden released their last album, the swooning Golden Sea. For the longest time, it seemed even to Brønsted as if the record – critically-acclaimed though it was – would be their…